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By now, everyone has heard about the problems with the VA. But some may not be aware that our active duty troops are also facing a battle over their compensation and benefits.

We say thank you to our veterans, but when it comes to meaningful actions, are we doing right by them?

Last week, the Senate Armed Services Committee approved several proposals that shift costs onto service members and retirees, including:

■ Health care: A two-fold to three-fold increase in co-pays on the heels of an increase last year.

■ Military pay: Caps active duty pay raises at 1 percent versus the 1.8 percent raise scheduled under current law. This would be the second year of pay caps with four more planned.

■ Housing allowance: Active duty personnel will be required to pay 5 percent out-of-pocket for their housing. On average, this will take more than $1,200 a year from their pockets.

These proposals come as food stamp use among military families has steadily risen since 2008. The unemployment rate among military spouses is around 25 percent while 90 percent are underemployed.

The struggle to maintain employment, let alone a career, is overwhelming due to frequent relocation, the service member’s absence for trainings and deployment, and cost of childcare.

Military families are struggling, and Congress is looking to balance the budget on their backs rather than making the difficult decisions necessary to address the fraud, waste and abuse in the Department of Defense (where an accurate audit of the budget has not occurred in decades).

Are we going to accept this? I hope not.

Please take a moment to honor our service members by writing, emailing, or calling your senator or member of Congress this week to tell them that cutting military pay and benefits is not how America should balance the budget.

Our veterans have already paid their debt to this country. They deserve better from us all.

The Navy was actively fighting fraud, waste, & abuse to save funding back when I was an Ensign in 1979. Despite lots of posturing and threats the fraud, waste, and abuse continued with periods of slight improvement to worsening. The problem is the contrast in objectives between the budgeteers and the war fighters. The budgeteer wants an effective weapon system at a low cost. The war fighter wants the best weapons system available dang the cost. Throw on top of that politicians who don't want to lose military/military contractor jobs in their home state and you see why fraud, waste, and abuse isn't going away. Don't budget savings based on curbing fraud, waste, and abuse because those savings will not happen.